Holy cow... 108 entries so far in the 4 field.  2 more spots left.  And the other fields are full.  What a difference a weekend makes, when its not in the 40s and raining..

Right. If you volunteered for registration please try to get there on time. Lines will be long.

Phillip Maronilla said:

Holy cow... 108 entries so far in the 4 field.  2 more spots left.  And the other fields are full.  What a difference a weekend makes, when its not in the 40s and raining..

also, no CRCA club race the same day. Expect the L&C Cup to sell out pretty much every weekend unless there is a similar conflict, and even then with the good weather sometimes fields will still fill up. 

How will you sherpa bottles from the team car?

Andrew Da Silva said:

Would i be a douche if i wore a skinsuit tmrw?

Its just so new and clean... 

You'll look faster.  And you're trying for points, so the style factor might increase your points total. 

You want me to yell splits at the KOM to the break and NOT the field or what?  Got some various feedback last week and what's wanted and when, depending upon the situation.

hello cat4's
...is anyone(experienced) going to summarize race plan for tomorrow?
if no then see you  @sign-in...5:45am.
-h;-)

Ashley 4th - time upgrade mate!

At work... in between patients i keep refreshing this page!!!

Oh, and "Il Prezidente" was thwarted by a dodgey "third market" hub.  You get what you pay for, eh?

I had fun this morning though some frustration was to be had.

First green jersey sprint the Waffles guys lined up at Grand Army Plaza or their guy and kept it fast until the temple when they all flamed out. We did a poor job of organizing but Yacks was able to use his Jedi pack negotiation skills and squeeze his way up to 2nd over the line.

Second green jersey sprint Andy was in a break up the road and we did a pretty good job of keeping the pace high but not bringing them back until some other teams got to the front by the parking lot. They had a tiny gap as we approached the bathrooms and I could see Andy on the front doing is track sprint glances. I screamed at him to go because I couldn't tell if he knew we were right there. He jumped just in time and took the sprint which should be enough to put him in the green for next round. Defending is a bit of a different beast so I think next time we need to pick a defined crew for the leadouts and expect to gather and work like I know we can.

Yacks gave a go at the 2nd KOM and scored a 2nd. Beasty.

Coming into the finish I found myself on the yellow jersey's wheel at the temple and feeling good. I decided it was my day to participate in the finale. We moved our way up the right hand side and I still had his wheel at the parking lot when out of nowhere a rec rider on a hybrid appeared in front of us hugging the curb. The yellow jersey scooted by with only an inch to spare but I didn't make it and had to brake. I slid to the back of the field and ten seconds later heard the sound of crunching carbon. That rec rider was my Clarence. I would have been on the deck had I made it by him.

Damn Jim.  Was the rec rider the cause of the crash?

I heard there was a lot of blood in the 4 field. 

No, the crash happened a good 10 seconds afterwards. I don't think it had anything to do with it other than perhaps adding to the general chaos. I had enough time to fade back and watch the sprinters go away. I do wish the Marshals would be a bit more forceful in making sure other park users know that a race is coming.

No telephoto today (thank goodness) I was just there to shoot KOMs

Quick note on crash photos - these aren't good PR for the races in general so we'd all appreciate it if you kept your appreciation to the forum and not repost/share the shot(s)

Erased

"Hybrid man" was not the cause of the crash...but his appearance caused some consternation and a slight reshuffling of the deck...That sprint opened up waaay too late...consequently you had 30 guys at the front, shoulder to shoulder across the road, all entertaining visions of glory.  I'm told wheel chopping was in high fashion.  It didn't look like a finish from last wheel (my chosen spot) it looked like a pack finish where everyone decided to sprint 50 yards from the line. 

Crash happened right behind Carl Nelson. Hmmm...

Lt. Dan napping on the job after a KOM

Photos here

And somebody please thank Owens for freezing his nads off for the KOM scoring today - thanks dude.

Jules said:

Oh, and "Il Prezidente" was thwarted by a dodgey "third market" hub.  You get what you pay for, eh?

ugh. but we fixed it in Ragot's workshop already - pretty easy 2 5mm alen keys. 

Yes...the Neuvation R series hub requires you to check those bolts once a month....they are actually light, simple and durable hubs that require almost no maintenance.  Removing the freehub body to grease pawls is as easy as turning two 2.5 mm alleys.  I like to lube the pawls every now and then....makes the hub very quiet.  Yacks

I have never, ever, in the history of bikes and their racing, perceived any noise or resistance from a hub or bottom bracket. It amazes me how much I hear about them here.

Having said that, I will now experience an unending string of issues with each, starting tomorrow. Thanks a lot.

Anybody know why the Mengoni rider in the 1/2/3 was dq'd today?

I didn't have much juice in the legs after a late night of revelry, so I tried to stay out of trouble near the front, help out when I could (which was rarely), and make a few attacks opportunistically.

The most interesting part of my race was on the sprint lap where Andy and six others got about 200 meters on the field before the downhill. I blocked with Jim while the group was forming, and a big roleur type powered past me just before the start of the downhill, so I hopped on his wheel. By the time we got to the chute we were halfway to the break. I yelled to him that we had a gap, he slowed, and I jumped him. Would have rather pulled through but he lost too much speed. Ground the rest of the way alone to the break, recovered for about 15 seconds, then got tailed off the back with a couple guys by Andy's sprint. It seemed like an interesting situation was shaping up, but nothing came of it.

I would like to call out Jim for racing especially well today. He was showing some serious brains out there and a lot of the times I saw him, I would think to myself, "man, that's where I should be!"